Process of making partial oxidation products



May 24, 1932.

J. H. JAMES PROCESS OF MAKING PARTIAL OXIDATION PRODUCTS Original Filed Nov. 5, 1919 Patented May 24, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH HIDY JAMES, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T'O CLARENCE P. BYRNES, TRUSTEE, OF SEWICKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA PROCESS OF MAKING PARTIAL OXIDATION PRODUCTS Original application filed. November 5, 1919, Serial No. 385,989. Divided and this application filed October 28, 1925.

The figure is a sectional side elevation showing one form of apparatus for carrying out my invention.

In copending application Serial No. 272,- 567, filed' January 22, 1919, and in Serial No. 281,124, filed March 7, 1919, I have described methods of making acids and also intermediate oxidation products short of acids by partial oxidation methods. In said methods, a mineral hydrocarbon in finely divided condition is mixed with oxygen or an oxygencontaining gas, such as air, and passed through a heated reaction zone, and preferably in contact with a catalyst under regulated temperatures, amount of air, etc., the temperature bein kept under that of continuous self-sustalned combustion and preferably below a red heat.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 335,939, filed November 5, 1919 (now Patent No. 1,759,620, granted May 20, 1930), and relates particularly to a mixture of alcohols and to a method ofmaking alcohols by my partial oxidation process. I have found that I can, by a process similar to those of the applications above enumerated, obtain alcohols and aldehyde alcohols from mineral hydrocarbons, which alcohols usually present in different molecular weights, can be further oxidized preferably by the same general process to obtain aldehyde fatty acids and other intermediate oxidation products.

'This new method presents certain advantages over my other methods, both in that I can obtain, if desired, a relatively large percentage of alcohols, and also in that the double-run' method, first making alcohols and then making aldehyde fatty acids therefrom, presents certain advantages over the direct method of producing aldehyde fatty acids.

In carrying outmy process or subprocess, I may employ the same apparatus as shown in some of my copending cases, as shown in the figure of the.drawing. In this drawing, 2 represents a valved air pipe through which air is supplied under pressure, 3 a meter for the air, and 4 the pipe leading from the meter into a heating and mixing vessel 5. 6 re resents a vessel containing a hydrocar on,

Serial No. 65,379.

sel 5. 8 indicates a burner having a valved supply pipe 9, by which the heat may be regulated. 10 represents the "walls of the furnace or heating chamber in which the retort or mixing vessel 5 is set, the heated mixture of hydrocarbon vapor and air passing from the mixing vessel through the channel 11 to the catalytic screen 12. This catalytic screen is shown as having a frame 12a, clamped or bolted between the ends of the channel 11 and the flanged end of the conduit 13, leading to a vertical condenser 14. The products emerging from the catalytic screen pass down through the tubes 15 of the condenser into the vessel 16. 17 represents the valved inlet pipe for water passmg into the condenser, and 18 the outlet pipe for the circulating water. The vessel 16 is provided with an outlet 19 for fumes, 20 being the valved pipe by which the condenser products are drawn off. Between the condenser and the vessel 16 and the furnace, I preferably provide an insulatingscreen 21 or some heat insulator, to keep the heat of the furnace away from the condensing apparatus.

22 represents a pyrometer which is preferably in the form of an electric couple with its wires 23 leading to an external temperature indicator 24.

As regards the catalyst employed, I prefer the complex oxides or compounds of metals having a varying valence. All parts of the complex may consist of oxides of the same metal or of different metals. For example, an excellent, catalyst in this connection consists of the so-called blue oxides of molybdenum, which, contain mol bdenyl molybdenate, MoO .MoO and mol ybdenyl molybdenite, and are preferably all chemical compounds of two or more oxides of molybdenum representing different states of oxidation. These complexes may be regarded as salts, that is, compounds of one of more basic with one or more acid oxides.

Other complexes of value for such catalyst are chromic chromate, Cr O .CrO tungsten The basic and acid parts of these complexes may be formed from oxides of different metals, in which case, each metal or group of metals used should possess varying valence. Examples of this class are: uranyl molybdate; uranyl molyb'dite, cobalt molybdate; cobalt molybdite; uranyl vanadate; uranyl vanadite, etc.

The metals Whose com lexes I prefer to employ as the acid part 0 the catalyst, since -I havefound them to be of high activity in fourth peak, and the descending side of further peaks, developed since the date of this diagram. The class includes the following metals: titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, tungsten and uranium. The basic oxides may be the lower oxides of these metals or may be the oxides of iron, cop er, nickel, lanthanum, cobalt, thorium, and t e eight or nine rare earth metals.

In both acid or basic portions there may, of course, be two or more of these combined.

In carrying out the process, the vapor of mineral oil is mixed with air in proper pro. portions and passes with a definite velocity through the thin layer of catalytic material which is maintained within a definite range of temperature below that of self-sustained combustion, and preferably below an temperature at which the catalyst will g ow or show color from its rising temperature. Heat is continuously supplied to the heated zone of reaction suflicient to maintain it below that at which self-sustained combustion takes place, but suflicient to maintain the temperature to produce the alcohols.

In the preferred form of the present method, the essential difference over my previous methods lies in using much less air in the mixture than theory requires to make a prodnot in which aldehyde acids will predominate and employing a temperature generally higher than used in producing aldehyde acids.

The following example will serve to illustrate ,my method under certain conditions. The raw material used was gas oil made from Penn lvania etroleum, which showed the following on distillation: Below 250 C Zero BBlOW 300 0-..... 32. 5% 1 Below 350 C 62. Residue 5.5%

During the run, the oil was fed at an average rate of slightly over 5 liters every hour; the air was fed at an average of about 4.4 cubic feet per minute, and the temperature in the catalytic zone was maintained at a tem erature varyin from about 340 to 470 The total oil Ie total recovery with one scrubber was 71.5 liters, givin a yield of 76.9 of product havin%a speci c gravity of .866.

y the well. known method of determinin aliphatic alcohols which consists in measurlng the hydrogen evolved on heating with soda lime and caustic potash, it was found that the product contained approximately 33% of alcohol. Thealdehyde fatty acids foirmed at the same time amount to about 1 sists of aldehydes and unchanged hydrocarbons. The determination of aldehydes and aldehyde alcohols was not made, but it was d was 92.5 liters, the

The remainder of the products conshown qualitatively that there was a conatty acids, I take the mixture produced by the step above described, containing the large percentage of alcohols, and pass it again through the apparatus in the same general manner as before. example of such sub-process or second step inghe process of making aldehyde fatty 8.01 s.

The raw material made was the liquid product roduced as above described containing alip iatic aldehyde alcohols, aldehydes, aldehyde fatt acids, and some unchanged aliphatic hy rocarbons. The temperature was from about 340 C. to 370 C. The oil feed was about 5.33 liters per one-half hour. The air feed was about 4.35 cubic feet per minute. The total oil fed was 32 liters and the product. recovered with one scrubber in series with the condenser was 26.7 liters, giving a yield of 83.4%, the product having a specific gravity of .90. The aldehyde fatty acids in the product amounted to 55.6%.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, since a simple, cheap and effective method is provided for making alcohols direct from mineral hydrocarbons and also a double-step method of roducing further products, such as aldehydb fatty acids.

Chan es may be made "in the apparatus, as

Well as in the distillates or oils used, and the conditions may be varied somewhat within aliphatic hydrocarbons of both the saturated and unsaturated type, along with cyclic hydrocarbons and those of the ring type.

Other synthetic methods may be employed for preparing the oxygenated hydrocarbon I Will now recite an derivative product claimed herein; and said methods are preferably of the catalytic type under temperatures sufiicient to cause a reaction between the carbon compounds treated to form the hydrocarbon derivative product.

I claim:

1. In the process of making partial oxidation products, the steps consisting of mixing an oxygen-containing gas with finely divided hydrocarbon which is liquid at normal temperatures and pressures, passing a stream of the mixture through a hot reaction zone at a temperature below that of continuous selfsustained complete combustion, inter-adjusting the variable factors to produce a material percentage of alcohols,,and condensing'part of the products.

2. In the process of making partial oxidation products, the steps consisting of mixing vaporized hydrocarbon liquids with an oxygen-containing gas, supplying the latter in measured amounts less than theory requires for producing acids, passing the stream of the mixture through a hot reaction zone at a temperature below a red heat, adjusting the variables to produce a material percentage of alcohols, and condensing the products.

3. In the process of making partial oxidation products, the steps consisting of mixing vaporized hydrocarbon liquids with an oxygen containing gas, supplying the latter in measured amounts less than theory requires for producing acids, passing the stream of the mixture through a hot reaction zone at a temperature below a red heat and at a pressure below five atmospheres, adjusting the variables to roduce a material percentage of alcohols, and condensing the products.

4. In the process of making partial oxida-'.'

tion products, the steps consisting of mix} ing vaporized hydrocarbon liquids with an oxygen-containing gas, supplying the latter in measured amounts less than theory requires for producing acids, passing the stream of the mixture through a hot reaction zone over catalytic material at a temperature below a red heat, adjusting the variables to produce a material percentage of alcohols, and condensing the products.

5. In the process of making aliphatic alcohols, the steps consisting in passing a vapor or gaseous phase mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbon and oxygen-containing gas through a heated conversion zone with the oxygen below that theoretically necessary for producing acids, and interadjusting the variable factors to give a material percentage of alcohols.

6. In the process of making aliphatic alcohols, the steps consisting in passing'a gaseous or vapor phase mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbon and oxygen-containing gas in contact with a catalyst at a temperature below that of continuous self-sustained complete combustion, and interadjusting the variable ucts within the range rom alcohols to orfactors to give a material percentage of alcohols in the product.

7. In the process of making partial oxidation products, the steps consisting of mixing an oxygen-containing gas with finely divided hydrocarbon which is liquid at normal temperatures and pressures, passing a stream of the mixture through a hot reaction zone at a temperature below that of continuous selfsustained complete combustion, interadjusting the variable factors to produce a material percentage of alcohols of different molecular weights, and then further oxidizing a product thereof to more highly oxidized, products within the range from alcohols to organic acids;

8. In the process of making partial oxidation products, the steps consisting of mixing an oxygen-containing gas with finely divided hydrocarbon which is liquid at normal temperatures and pressures, passing a stream of the mixture through a hot reaction zone at a temperature below that of continuous selfsustained complete combustion, interadjusting the variable factors to produce a material percentage of alcohols of different molecular weights, and then'mixing the product with an oxygen-containing gas and passing a stream of the mixture through a reaction zone at a tem erature below that of continuous self-sustained complete combustion and Within the range where further oxidation takes place.

9; In the process of making partial oxidation products, the steps consisting in passing a gaseous or vapor phase mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbon and oxygen-containing gas in contact with a catalyst, at a temperature below thatcf continuous self-sustained complete combustion, interadjusting the variable factors to give a material percentage of al-- cohols of diiferent molecular weights in the product and then further oxidizing a product thereof to more hi hly oxidized prodganic acids.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set In hand.

y JOSEPH HIDY JAMES. 

